7 social entrepreneurs selected to the next round of the 11th Banpu Champions for Change (BC4C)

Banpu Public Company Limited, an international versatile energy provider, in collaboration with ChangeFusion revealed the list of 7 selected social enterprises of “Banpu Champions for Change or BC4C#11”. The teams received initial funds of 560,000 baht in total to be used to develop their business according to their goals for 3 months. This year, all finalists are composed of young people with outstanding knowledge and potential in various fields. They are interested in implementing their business plan that can also create social impacts in various dimensions. Their commitments were reflected through unique sustainable development issue they put into their presentation.

Right: Mr. Rattapon Sukhunthee, Head of Corporate Communications, Banpu Public Company Limited
Left: Mr. Sunit Shrestha, Managing Director of ChangeFusion

Mr. Rattapon Sukhunthee, Head of Corporate Communications, Banpu Public Company Limited, said “More than a decade of initiating this project, Banpu has seen a lot of changes of social enterprises in Thailand ecosystem. From the starting point over 10 years ago when social enterprises were not well known to present day when more people, especially young generations, are starting to understand and pay more attention to social enterprises, the project has provided support to more than 100 SEs which have made positive impact on society in many different dimensions. This is something we can be proud of as a success. And this year we will continue to focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in terms of job creation and income generation as well as the work for environment, health, and well-being. Banpu hopes that the commitment of these 7 teams this year will be an inspiration for SE in Thailand and the next generation of people who want to become social enterprises in the future.”

The 7 selected teams for this year’s BC4C project are social enterprises that aims to develop and create impacts for society in various dimensions, including:

Career and Community Development

• Green Diamond Phetchabun – an enterprise that aims to connect markets and develop knowledge in the production to add more value to the agriculture with the organic production according to international standards to strengthening agricultural career for people in communities, allowing them to be able to generate sustainable income while taking care of the environment in their community.
• Mae Hong Son Community Enterprise Network which aims to build a forest and generate income for people in more than 25 communities in the network. The network sets to develop tourism products and services of Mae Hong Son province to be more diverse and of higher quality, encouraging the communities to be stronger with more jobs created and more income generated while also taking care of the environment.

Wellness

• PLAKOD –an enterprise that combines gaming with physical therapy activities by developing a game controller into a physical therapy device that allows players to move their body while having fun with the game. It can also be connected to a video game-based rehabilitation to increase motivation and create a positive attitude in pediatric rehabilitation. It also brings participation of family, friends, siblings, and physical therapists who join the game together.
• LukThamDai – an enterprise that focuses on children’s development allowing them to grow to their best potential according to their age. This enterprise acts as a helper in raising children for new parents and provides counseling, advice, and observation of children’s development to minimize any developmental delays that may occur.

Environment

• Goodgrocer – an enterprise that aims to solve the problem of oversupply for agricultural products as well as products that have unattractive appearance that consumers often overlook, may be left to rot and become garbage even if it is of acceptable quality. This business will help manage and create value for those products and deliver them to consumers to reduce waste while creating a good environment and generating more income for the farmers.
• SWOOP BUDDY – an online second-hand clothing store with personalized online thrift store platform that promotes the use of manufactured garments to last as long as possible. Their vision is to create a circular economy and reduce environmental problems from the production of clothes and the huge amount of waste that is discarded as old clothes.
• Next Forest – an enterprise that is committed to restoring forests in a sustainable way by raising funds for continuous forest care in many areas. Their work includes design and planning to allow owner of the areas and the public to gain benefit from the reforestation area in the future.

Mr. Sunit Shrestha, Managing Director of ChangeFusion, said “We have witnessed the change and the continued growth of SE in Thailand that it has now become a strong network of social enterprises. Every year there will be alumni of the BC4C coming back to pass on their knowledge and real business experience to younger generations. I do hope that we will be able to work together to strengthen the SE network in Thailand and create a more stable and sustainable SE business here in our country.”

All 7 finalists will participate in intensive incubation workshops to learn how to make communication plan, how to make positive social impacts, and a development and testing of marketing plans, both in theory and actual business practices for 3 months. The project will then select only 3 winning teams to receive additional funds totaling more than 750,000 baht to continue growing their social enterprises and achieve their goals. Let’s follow which social enterprise team will be able to grow their business while creating a sustainable positive impact on society and ultimately win the competition this year.

Those who are interested can follow news and updates about the competition of the 7 selective teams in the 11^th Banpu Champions for Change (BC4C#11) at www.facebook.com/banpuchampions.

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About Banpu

Banpu Public Company Limited is a leading international versatile energy provider with 3 core groups of businesses: energy resources, energy generation and energy technology in 10 countries, namely, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Australia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Singapore, Japan, the United States of America and Vietnam.

“Learning is the Power of Change and Development”

Banpu believes that “learning” is an important foundation for the development of “people”, which will drive communities and society towards sustainable development in long term. Banpu’s CSR projects in all countries, therefore, focus on supporting and promoting continuous learning among young generations and communities in various forms, allowing them to learn from real experiences as much as from their daily lives inside and outside classrooms. They are encouraged to practice and develop their potential as well as life skills while always being curious to research, learn and discover knowledge on their own as much as with others.